French bank Societe Generale has culled the head of its investment banking unit following two consecutive quarters of underperformance culminating in a surprise €1.26bn loss.

Séverin Cabannes who leads SocGen’s global banking and investor solutions division and is one of its deputy chief executives, will retire in 2021 as the firm readies a fresh overhaul of the business that has struggled to match European and Wall Street rivals so far this year. Cabannes joined the bank in 2001, and took over the leadership of its investment bank in May 2018 after heading up its control functions.